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An Overview of Using Animals in Laboratory: Review

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 © April 2021| IJIRT | Volume 7 Issue 11 | ISSN: 2349-6002
An Overview of Using Animals in Laboratory: Review
Joel Mathew Jose1, Amartya Ramchander2
1,2
Post graduate student, CHRIST (Deemed to be) University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Abstract - Using animals in research has historically
proved to be useful. During the initial phase where ethics
were not as strong as it is today, there were no
regulations at all. But soon animal rights became a
significant point of discussion within the society. Ethical
guidelines were established to curtail unregulated use of
animals in scientific procedures. But this did not end the
debate of whether or not researchers should use animals
to perform experiments. Moreover, the arguments from
both ends are comprehensive and valid. This eventually
has led to researchers trying to find other alternatives
that could potentially help replace the need for animals
in research. These alternatives are improving with the
help of constant technological advancements and will be
exclusively implemented ethically in further times.
Index Terms - Animal ethics, animal research, law,
experimentation.
I.INTRODUCTION
A lot of research into understanding behavior is being
conducted in the field of psychology which can
eventually contribute towards the welfare of animals
and humans. Although most research in psychology
uses humans as subjects, studies involving animals
still continue to play an important role in trying to
address certain fundamental questions. The study of
animal behavior has a long history, going back more
than 2000 years. But laboratory research got well
known only in the twentieth century with the ascent of
behaviorism, with research utilizing animal models to
gain more insight about the human processes of
learning and memory. (Jayne & See, 2019).
The impact of research on animals, as well as their
welfare, depends on the nature of the experiments.
Animals have been used frequently throughout the
history of biomedical as well as in laboratory research.
Going through the history of using the animal in the
experiment, early Greek physician-scientists,
Erasistratus, (304 – 258 BC), and Aristotle (384 – 322
BC), performed experiments on living animals. And
Galen (129 – 199 / 217 AD), a Greek physician who
practiced in Rome and was a nobleman in the history
IJIRT 151105 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY
of medicine, conducted animal experiments to
advance the understanding of physiology, anatomy,
pathology, and pharmacology. Ibn Zuhr, an Arab
physician in the 12th century, introduced animal
testing as an experimental technique for testing
surgical procedures beforehand applying them to
human patients. And In recent years, the practice of
using animals for biomedical or laboratory research
has come under severe criticism by animal rights and
protection groups. Laws have been approved in
several countries to make the practice more ‘humane.’
Debates on the ethics of animal testing have raged
since the seventeenth century. Theodore Roosevelt, in
the 19th century, stated, “Common sense without
conscience may lead to crime, but conscience without
common sense may lead to folly, which is the
handmaiden of crime.” (Animal Testing and
Medicine, n.d.).
The first extensive opposition to the use of animals in
research was expressed in the 19th century. Even
before this, however, concerns had arisen about the
treatment of farm animals. The first piece of
legislation to prohibit cruelty to animals was accepted
by the General Court of Massachusetts in 1641 and
specified that "No man shall exercise any tyranny or
cruelty towards any brute creatures which are usually
kept for man's use" (Stone, 1977). In England, Martin's
Act was passed in 1822 to provide protection for farm
animals. In 1824, the SPCA (Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was founded to
ensure that this act was observed. (Introduction - Use
of Laboratory Animals in Biomedical and Behavioral
Research - NCBI Bookshelf, n.d.).
Animal researches have been conducted for a very
long time. One of the main arguments for animal
testing is the fact that we can produce data that will be
beneficial for treating disease in humans. Though, the
use of non-human subjects for research has become an
area for intense debate. Within the realm of the
scientific debate, there arise questions whether we
should utilize animals in experimentation; we could
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find two positions for this issue: those for and those
against. Disapproval against animal experimentation
is based on the belief that it is but one more among a
number of research methods, and as such, is
insufficient at present. It should be stressed that this
attitude does not question the practicality of
experimentation in previous periods, but rather states
that sciences now have better approaches available.
The arguments in contradiction of animal
experimentation are based mostly on the concept that
animal ‘models may even establish similarities with
human conditions, but that no theory can be proven or
disproved by similarity. This can be verified by a
series of errors in the biomedical/ laboratory field
during the time in which it was still grounded on
animal experimentation (Barnard & Kaufman, 1997).
With that, according to this view, the attention given
to animal research averts the focus from other more
effective methodologies for combating health-related
problems (Sharpe, 1989:111). (Cheluvappa et al.,
2017). Those in contradiction of, contend that the
advantage to humans does not validate the harm to
animals. Several people also believe that animals are
inferior to human beings and very different from them,
henceforth results from animals cannot be applied to
humans. (Animal Testing and Medicine, n.d.).
Food deprivation was every often utilized as a strategy
to propel lab animal subjects to "perform". This is still
oftentimes utilized today across behavioral research.
In the 1920s, Pavlov utilized canines to exhibit
classical conditioning: a dog was isolated and
separated in a space for prepping them to be used for
a series of trial where food would be paired with
another neutral stimulus (like the sound of a bell), so
as to record their reaction in terms of salivation. Still
utilized today and created during the 1920s by
Skinner, the Skinner Box (now and then alluded to as
an "operant chamber") confines partially food-
deprived animals (regularly pigeons or rodents) within
a crate with a gadget they should work to get a food
reward. Sometimes, animals were also additionally
offered amphetamines to evaluate the effect it would
have on their conduct under these conditions.
Furthermore, concepts such as helplessness and
depression were understood through studies that
conducted experiments which included giving dogs
electric shocks. But this was not the only path of
development that came out of beginning research in
animals. A contrasting method of studying the natural
IJIRT 151105 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY
behavior of animals, known as ethology, also came
about. Ethology mainly focused on questions about
animals and their behavior in a natural setting. But
these studies too, at times, took in those animals into
laboratories to study them further. For example,
certain studies would use an attached lens to the
animal's eye or would cut certain nerves in them to
observe how they would navigate their way through
their habitat.
II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The study done by Domjan & Purdy (1995) clearly
states the justifications for conducting research on
animals. They also clearly articulate about how all of
the books that were published at the time, included
some examples of research in which the use of animals
was stated. But, the exact need for using animals
instead of humans were not explained. Animal
research has also contributed significantly to the
exploration of concepts such as sensation and
perception. Much of what is known about the anatomy
and physiology of senses such as vision, hearing, taste,
touch, and smell has come from animal research.
Studies with animals have also helped in developing a
greater understanding about the physiological and
neural bases of emotion and have also been helpful in
terms of testing competing theories of emotion.
Animal research has also been instrumental in guiding
research on the opponent process theory of emotion,
aggression, and the relation between frustration and
aggression. Even the fundamental understanding of
the neurophysiological mechanisms of drug action are
also an indirect result of animal study. Behavior
therapies are well grounded in basic behavioral
research with animals. This can be seen in a number of
essential treatments for psychological disorders that
are derived from animal research.
Moreover, even though an animal model would not be
completely representative of human anatomy,
physiology, cognition or behavior, it is still helpful in
drawing conclusions due to various reasons. For
example, mice and rats (which share 95 per cent of our
genes) are very close models and actually represent
most of the human characteristics and attributes in an
excellent way. Claude Bernard who is known as the
father of physiology, stated that “experiments on
animals are completely conclusive for the hygiene and
toxicology of man. The effects of these materials are
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the same on man as on animals, save for differences in
degree”. Bernard made-up animal experimentation as
part of the standard scientific method. (Animal Testing
and Medicine, n.d.). The arguments are based on the
various benefits increasing from animal
experimentation for both animal and human health
(AMA, 1989; Smith & Boyd, 1991:25-44; Paton,
1993:55-107). As per to animals are a ‘model’ for the
human species, there seems to be agreement that the
‘ideal model may not exist’, but ‘most appropriate
model’ exists. This can be made known by the
biological continuum between the knowledge
accumulated from animals, species and the adoption of
given criteria for validation of these models (Held,
1983: 13).
Lorenz stated that “When behaviorists place
experimental pigeons in an opaque box that prevents
their perception of any information except the
frequency and time at which the animal presses a bar,
I cannot avoid thinking that they select not to see
pigeons’ various other activities because they are
fearful that it might diminish their belief in their own
explanatory monism.” Science took such an
observation as the basis for accepting certain stances
towards the existence of given conditions for the
performance of animal experimentation, stating that
“the presence of pain can induce a range of undesirable
physical or biological changes which may change the
rate of recovery from surgical measures, and these
changes may have an effect on the results obtained”
(Wolfensohn & Lloyd, 1995:174). Thus, ‘animal
welfare’, over ethical considerations, became a
significant aspect of scientific methodology and
permitted for the overview of The Principles of
Humane Experimental Technique, established since
1959 (Russel & Burch, 1992), aimed at attaining the
three R’s (‘replacement’, ‘reduction’, ‘refinement’) in
the utilization of animals for scientific purposes.
Where in the First R, animal experiments must be
replaced somewhere possible by other approaches
such as an in vitro biological system or mathematical
modeling.
In the Second R, there must be a reduction in the
number of animals being used. Only the number
mandatory to obtain reliable data must be used in an
experiment.
The Third R shows that the study must be refined to
minimize its overall impact on the animals used
IJIRT 151105 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY
(Ethics and animal experimentation: what is
debated?).
III. CONCLUSION
Overall, we could find that Animal ethics is an issue
as important as human welfare. More efforts need to
be undertaken for effective implementation of 3 Rs
during laboratory use of animals. Animals have been
made use in research as it usually simulates human
biology. The ethics relating to animal research evolved
over centuries of philosophical traditions, and not firm
rules of operation, but an avenue to show our moral
obligations towards research animals. Russell and
Burch set of 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, and
Refinement) are currently the most utilized set of
animal ethics. (Cheluvappa et al., 2017b). Excluding
animals from experimental research is not a very
viable option, but there are other methods being
developed that can potentially deliver an alternative
means for drug and chemical testing, up to some
levels. These include the use of computer models, cells
and tissue cultures and other types of organisms such
as eukaryotes, some of the lower vertebrates and
invertebrates. Advantages with these methods are,
time efficiency, requires less manpower, and cost
effectiveness. In the near future, integrated approaches
that would result in minimum involvement of animals
in scientific procedures may help research be more
ethically effective.
IV.ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Thanking God, and thanks to all the support and
guidance offered from friends and family.
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